Senate Democrats' letter to Trump on tax reform is missing something that could be the key to a GOP success

Senate Democrats
released a letter on Tuesday with a list of baseline demands
to come to the table and negotiate on a tax reform bill with
Republicans.

While the letter contained a list of items that could earn their
support on tax reform legislation, perhaps more notable was
what was missing.

Three Democratic senators did not sign onto the letter: Joe
Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North
Dakota, and Joe Donnelly of Indiana.

All three face reelection bids in 2018 in states President
Donald Trump won by huge margins last year.

Currently, the tax reform effort is still in its infant
stages. The Trump administration released a one-page outline of
"principles" in April, while key administration officials and GOP
congressional leadership released a letter on July 27
asserting their shared principles for a bill.

According to reports, the White House is aiming to
get tax reform done by the end of 2017. The GOP plans to
debut tax reform legislation in September, get it through the
House in October and the Senate in November, and proceed
through a conference to get the bill to Trump's desk by
December.

Given that there could be some dissent from
Republicans on various aspects of the plan — whether it is
revenue neutral, the lack of a border-adjustment tax, or
deductions that favor certain states — winning over
some vulnerable Democrats could be important to getting any
tax bill through Congress.

When asked the non-signature, a spokesperson for Donnelly
simply said that the Indiana senator wants tax reform to be done
in a bipartisan fashion.

"Donnelly believes there should be a bipartisan process to
reform our tax code," the spokesperson said in an email. "He
believes our tax code should be reformed in a way that gives
working and middle-class families greater economic security,
rewards companies that invest in American workers as outlined in
his End Outsourcing Act, and is
revenue-neutral. He is ready to exchange ideas with others in
Congress and the Trump Administration."

A spokesperson for Heitkamp similarly said in response to a
question from Business Insider about the letter that the senator
wants to go through a bipartisan process.

"Senator Heitkamp is approaching tax reform with an open
mind and she wants work across the aisle to help make reforms
that will grow the economy and support working families," the
spokesperson said.

Spokespeople for Heitkamp and Manchin did not respond
to requests for comment.

Manchin is particularly vulnerable, given that Trump won
his state by 41.7 percentage points in 2016. The West Virginia
senator also bucked his party previously by voting for the
confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions,
being the
only Democrat to do so.